


Birthday Surprises

by slightlyworriedhuman



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Body Horror, baby got bentacles, bentacles, do you know how many bentacle puns I can make about this story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-18 12:14:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18120623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slightlyworriedhuman/pseuds/slightlyworriedhuman
Summary: It was something you got used to, after a while. The constant pain. The struggle of sitting up every morning. The fight to just keep going despite the horror of your situation, the apparent hopelessness of your plight.His powers developed on their seventh birthday.How Ben's powers developed, and the rise and fall of the Horror.





	Birthday Surprises

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings for traumatized children and sushi. 
> 
> This is honestly kind of a story based off of my own chronic pain and scars, so I hope you enjoy it.   
> (Also, do you know how many bentacle puns I can make? It's wonderful.)

His powers developed on their seventh birthday. 

Well, the evening of their birthday would be more accurate. The day had been spent in a rare haze of joy, with Reginald out of the house and Grace and Pogo attending to the excited children. Grace had taken it upon herself, perhaps upon Pogo's suggestion, to bake them a cake after dinner, picture perfect and tasting just like Ben imagined heaven would. It was by all means a perfect birthday.

Except for the fact that a distinct pain had been growing beneath his skin all day.

It was like pins and needles when he'd woken up, but he'd dismissed it as having slept funny. In the shower, the hot water pelting against his skin was enough to mask the feeling. When he'd stepped out, his skin was red and numb from the steam. It was gone… or so he'd thought. By the time breakfast had ended, the pins and needles were back, more noticeable than before. He'd mentioned it to Luther, but Luther had said it was probably just the weather. How it would be the weather, he didn't explain, but Ben had accepted it and moved on. He hadn't missed the concern in his Number One's eyes as he turned away to find Diego and Klaus, but it had been shoved away as his brothers ran up to him, each taking a hand and pulling him along. 

Later in the day, though, it had grown into a full body discomfort that had him fidgeting at the lunch table. By the time dinner had arrived, he was sure something was wrong. Small stabs of pain beneath his skin were jabbing him all over, leaving sore spots and aching joints. He fought on through dinner quite valiantly, in his opinion; moving his fork to his mouth had been hell on his elbow and his poor wrist, his fingers already locked in a stiff claw around the fork. Nobody seemed to notice his quickly growing torment, though, until the others had ran to the living room for Grace to present them with small birthday gifts, leaving only him and Five in the dining room. He had told to others to go on, he'd be there in a moment, he just wanted to put the plates in the sink first. They had dashed out in a blur of chattering and whirling uniforms; however, it was only when he'd turned back to the table that he saw Five, sitting across from him, leaning over the table. The sight of his brother nearly gave him a heart attack, and he flinched back, spine screaming in protest at the sudden movement and drawing out a gasp. Hadn't Five left with the others?

“Are you okay?” Oh, there was an unusual concern on his normally aloof brother's face, which was enough to turn the pit of worry in his stomach into a full chasm. 

“I—” Ben swallowed. “I don't feel good…” Five stood, walking quickly around the table and scooting Ben's chair away from the table, turning it to the side before pulling up his own chair directly across from Ben. 

“What do you feel?” 

“It… I had pins and needles all day, but it— it  _ hurts _ now, all over under my skin and my bones…” He looked to Five, feeling the fear beginning to show on his face. “I don't know what to do.” Five paused, then set his shoulders, a look of determination on his young face. 

“Okay. I'm going to help, alright? I'll help, then we can get Mom and she'll… She'll fix what I can't.” That was his brother, always so sure and confident in himself. Ben trusted him implicitly; he always had, seeing how rational and smart he was compared to the rest of his siblings. Plus, Five always took care of him; Diego and Klaus may have been the ones to take him along for a good time, but Five was the one who always sat with him and read, who checked in with him after their Dad's training, who always showed his love in his strange, aloof, unique Five way. 

His brother would fix him. 

“Okay. We need… We need to get out of the dining room, for one.” Ben nodded. “You need to put down the fork so I can help you, though.” Oh. He looked at his hand; his fingers were curled over the fork, the metal leaving indents on his skin. 

“Um.” He tried to uncurl his fingers from their death grip on the silverware; the action was met with only pain and barely any movement. “I think… I need some help with that.” Five frowned slightly, but reached to help him. Ben almost yelled when Five jostled his hand, pain shooting up his arm in spikes from the contact.

“Shoot, sorry…” Gingerly, Five took hold of the fork, keeping Ben's hand in place with his other hand and tugging it out of his grip. “Okay. Can you… okay.” Hands as gently as feathers, Five ran his hands up Ben's arm, just light enough that the touch didn't draw any pain. One hand came to a rest at Ben's forehead; the other rested on his neck, fingers pressing ever so gently against it. Five's eyes widened, but he cleared his throat, seeming to fight to keep a calm look on his face. “Are you feeling… dizzy? Headachy?”

“I feel _bodyachy_ ,” Ben mumbled, trying his best to keep breathing evenly. He wanted to panic. He wanted to run screaming to Grace, to have his mom soothe him and take all the pain away. But that wasn't what they were supposed to do; they were supposed to be strong and brave. That's what Dad had said. Besides, running right now felt about as feasible as the Eiffel Tower being a spaceship.

“You're really hot, Ben… Did you notice before? It doesn't—” Five flinched back in the middle of his sentence, hands jerking away from Ben as if scalded by a hot iron. Ben jumped at the sudden movement, but froze when he saw Five's wide eyes, set in a expression of panic. 

“What happened?” He asked, voice beginning to pitch higher in his fear. “Am I okay?” Shakily, Five looked up and affixed a weak smile to his face, straightening up. 

“You're fine. I just… I think we should go get Mom, okay?” His eyes darted back down to Ben's neck. Oh god. Something was wrong, wasn't it? “I'm gonna go—”

“Five, what's happening? Tell me,” Ben pleaded, forcing his elbow to bend despite the pain, desperate to feel what was happening. 

“Wait- Ben—!” Five tried to catch Ben's hand, but he was too slow. As Ben's hand touched the skin on his collarbone, he felt searing heat, and… something moving, just beneath his skin. 

All pretenses of keeping it together faded from his system in an instant. With a breathless, raspy yelp of fear, he jerked his hand away, pulse skyrocketing.  _ “Oh god— Five— _ ” Oh, he could feel it now, as if feeling it once had unlocked the sensations his body had been desperately trying to muffle. Everywhere on his body, he could feel…  _ things _ beneath his skin, writing and pushing, distinctly other, distinctly alive. As his heart rate increased, it seemed the agitation of the things did too, as if they could sense his panic. 

“Oh shit—  _ MOM _ — Ben, I'm going to go get—” Five shot up as if to leave, façade of calm completely shattered. Pure terror seized Ben's heart; he didn't want to be alone with this, didn't want to face whatever this was by himself. 

_ “N-no— please stay— I—”  _ It felt as if he was being strangled from the inside. Looking down, he saw his skin bulging and writhing, as if his veins had been replaced with angry snakes. Sheer panic overtook him, and he desperately reached out, trying to force his fingers to move, to grab Five's sleeve. As he reached out, a moment of pure, clear thought came to him— if he couldn't move his fingers, Five would leave. If Five left, he would surely die here. As soon as the moment of clarity passed, his fingers somehow unlocked, snatching the smooth fabric of Five's sleeve. Five stopped short, looking at Ben. They both stared at his suddenly free hand in confusion, before a feeling of pure dread washed over Ben.  _ Oh no. _

It seemed to happen in snapshots; one moment, his hand was extended, holding Five in place. The next, his arm was seizing horrendously, pulling Five behind his chair. His skin was bulging out all over his arms and legs, his joints feeling as if white-hot rods were being slammed into the articulations. Five's sleeve slipped from his fingers, but his hands were firm on Ben's shoulders, holding a lifeline for the two of them. He felt the things moving under his skin, pulling back from his arms and legs, feeling like they were coiling in the pit of his stomach. He could feel his abdomen bulging grotesquely, could feel his skin threatening to tear—

And suddenly, as if sucked away by one of Five's tears in space, he could feel the skin of the front of his torso…  _ disappear.  _ In a moment of fear and shock that is experienced oh so rarely in one's life, that should never be experienced by the young and the innocent, they watched as Ben's sweater tore, releasing… oh, _god_. Tentacles shot out from the gaping hole in his being, filling the room with a writhing, inky mass that lashed out at everything. He was utterly paralyzed with terror for a moment, two, three…

Then he  _ screamed. _ It was shrill and utterly broken with fear, and the tentacles seemed to respond to it, whipping around and smashing into walls. He could feel the impacts as it happened, and the reality that he could feel the tentacles, that there were connected to him, was almost enough to make him completely lose it. But Five's hands, shaking and clammy, squeezed tight on his shoulders. 

_ “Ben! You have to calm down!” _ Five yelled, voice right next to Ben's ear as Ben screeched in horror. Five's voice was shaking almost as bad as his hands, and Ben could almost feel the fear coming off of him in waves. But he was still  _ there. _ One of the tentacles bludgeoned the door shut, and moments later, Ben caught the sound of frantic thumping on the other side. The pressure of Five's hands disappeared for a moment, and through the haze of panic filling his mind, he thought,  _ Oh god, he left. Oh dear god. _ He was unable to stop another wail from tearing through his throat as his hands clenched on the chair, scrabbling for something to ground himself with, but a second later, hands appeared on his face, roughly turning his gaze to the side. Beside him crouched Five, hands cradling Ben's jaw and face set in fearful determination as he cringed slightly away from the flailing appendages waving about the room. “Ben!” he shouted, forcing him to look at him. “You have to focus!”

Focus on what?! On the terror that was currently erupting from his missing abdomen, on the fact that his fear was enough to drown out all the pain he was in? “Hey! I said  _ focus!”  _ No. He had to focus on… on Five. On his brother who was always there for him. The warm hands on his face, the steely glint in his brother's eye that he had only seen before under threat by testing or missions. Five. Focus on Five. Focus on—

He shut his eyes, biting back another cry and forcing on breathing. He had to be like his brother. He had to be strong and calm, everything Five exemplified that he wasn't. Slowly, he felt the tentacles slowing their frantic whipping about. “Good! You're doing good, Ben! You just have to focus, okay? Keep focusing! You've got this!” Focus on Five. Focus.  _ Focus. _ Eventually, he felt the still-agitated squirming slow down, and—what was this?—he could feel something soft and warm at the end of one of them. Five exhaled roughly, hands suddenly forcefully still on Ben's face, and with an odd twist in his heart, Ben realized he was feeling his brother's… face? Slowly, he peeked open an eye. Indeed, one of the long, black tentacles was gently draping itself along Five's shoulders, tracing along Five's jaw. It was a startling thing to see, but the feeling somehow brought Ben comfort. The tentacles… knew he trusted Five, somehow. They really were an extension of him, weren't they? 

“I'm sorry,” Ben whispered, remembering Five’s aversion to being touched without his permission. Five's eyes were squeezed shut, his face slightly scrunched. Still, though, Five shook his head gently, before releasing another shaky breath.

“Does… does it help?” Could Five feel how Ben's heartbeat had slowed slightly at the realization that the tentacles sought comfort too, that they knew his trust and love for his brother? 

“Y...Yeah.” 

“Then it's fine.”

“I don't think I can control it,” he murmured, knowing Five didn't need an explanation but still feeling obligated to give one anyways. As he watched, another tentacle slowly snuck under Five's arms, wrapping around him and lifting him gently. Much to Ben's shock, it pulled Five closer to Ben, and, still trembling with fear, Ben gratefully raised his arms to embrace Five. As his brother returned the hug, Ben buried his face in Five's sweater, breath still coming in short gasps. His heart was loud in his ears, still a frantic, unsteady beat, though the odd, innate realization that the tentacles didn't want to harm him calmed him slightly. Slowly, sensation disappeared from the offending new appendages, and Ben wondered what was happening until Five let out a shaky sigh, still clutching Ben in a tight hug.

“They're gone.” The pounding continued, and Ben realized that it wasn't just his heart beating frantically in his ears. He lifted his head from Five's shoulder, and a split second later, the door to the dining room was knocked clean off its hinges, Luther barrelling in. 

“What's going on?! Are you—” Luther stopped in his tracks as his head whipped around the room, gaze presumably taking in the destroyed dining room before settling on Ben and Five, clutching each other like their lives depended on it, tears streaking down Ben's face and Five's white as a sheet. Ignoring Luther, Five murmured, “Is your, uh… skin back?” Gasping, Ben drew back, hands flying down to his stomach. He could feel his skin, smooth and fever hot, through the giant tear in the front of his sweater. It was back. Somehow, it had disappeared, then reappeared once the tentacles left. But… 

His hand trailed over an odd patch of skin, indented and numb. Craning his neck to look down, he tried to look at it, but the tattered remains of his sweater kept falling in the way. Kneeling, Five gently knocked his hands aside, lifting Ben's sweater as footsteps heralded the entrance of their other siblings, followed by Grace. Immediately, Five tore his eyes away from Ben, looking to the woman. 

“Mom, Ben needs help, he…” Five paused. “Look.” Look? The tentacles were gone, what did she need to look at? Her heels clicked over, and she knelt before Ben, smooth fingers gently running over his skin.

“...Five, you take Ben up to his room. Luther, please go alert Pogo that something has happened with Ben. I’ll get some first aid equipment. Diego, come with me. Allison…” Her voice began to fade out, and Ben wondered why before he suddenly found himself falling forward. Pain lanced over his skin, and clammy hands caught him as his eyes rolled back into his head. 

**Author's Note:**

> This will most likely have 2-3 chapters. Gonna have to change the warnings on it soon ;)


End file.
